1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication system that uses server agents according to a simple network management protocol (SNMP).
The present application claims priority on Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-77006, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a network management system, a management device communicates with a plurality of devices via a network in accordance with a network management protocol such as SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol).
Patent Literature 1 (PLT 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-23922) discloses a server system in which a manager communicates with a plurality of servers in connection with a controller in accordance with the SNMP. Herein, the manager uses the same object ID (i.e. an ID defining an object per each server) to obtain server management information via the controller and to instruct each server to transmit its management information. Additionally, a proxy server is provided to confirm the status of an agent per each server under maintenance when an operator conducts a status confirmation operation with the manager. When the manager makes status confirmation via the proxy server, it is possible to confirm the status of an agent included in the proxy server as well.
The technology disclosed in PLT 1 is incapable of collecting and managing status information of servers without a special request from the manager. When the proxy server confirms the status of an agent upon a status confirmation operation by an operator, it is difficult to confirm the status of an external agent, subordinate to the proxy server, without a status confirmation operation by an operator. In other words, the foregoing technology requires a status monitoring operation to monitor the status of an agent under maintenance since the proxy manager does not periodically monitor the status per each agent.